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Mid Atlantic Cambridge Z88 for Sale

Covers: New York, Pensylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Virginia, Maryland and Washington DC.

BFay75

New Member
Joined
Aug 5, 2024
Messages
8
Delivery Options
In Country Shipping or Local Pickup
Cambridge Z88, case, user manual, 128K RAM, 256K EPROM. I came into possesion of this device as a 'rescue' from being trashed and would like to find it a nice home. As you can see from the pictures the machine appears to be in good condition and operational. If local to New York City we can arrange an exchange otherwise I can ship at your cost.

- Brian
 

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I see from browsing the forum that some members do not want new users to post items for sale .. on a post where the seller taped over a serial number. I am both a new member and a new seller. I would be glad to post any additional information that might make any potential buyer more comfortable. As I said I came by this as a rescue about 5 years ago. In this case it was the death of a neighbor and a family that was overwhelmed and throwing everything in the trash. The gentlemen was a creator .. he painted, made furniture, collected electronics and built his own computers. I reinitialized 4 very well provisioned, but older towers and gave them away. I have had this in a closet since then.
 
I think it's fine to post for sale as a new member. Personally, what I object to is a seller who tries to get educated on what they have and how much to sell it for to maximize their own profit, all without investing any time to understand the community and the history of vintage computers. (And I don't assume that my opinion is in the majority here). I don't see your post as this type of entry. You're being up front and respectful. So don't worry about being "new". It's all about respecting the community.

Seaken
 
Thank you Seaken. I appreciate your input and understand your point about respecting the community. I am not really here to maximize my profit on this rescued Z88 as much as to try and find someone who would appreciates this device and be willing to offer a respectful, fair price for it. I am a retired mainframe DBA and although I do not share your active interest in vintage computing devices I do have a healthy respect for vintage computing. When I began programming the idea of a computer in my pocket was Star Trek and the minor act of distributing a message like this was an act of coding. My research the last few days did make me understand that the Z88 must have been quite the desireable and cool thing in it's time (a fair number of my early 1980s programming days were spent in the green glow of a dumb terminal.) I do feel something personal for this Z88 because of the way it came into my possession. My vintage objects tend to be audio and like the gentlemen I referenced above I am one of those guys that hung onto the receipts and documentation. My research on this device to try and determine a fair price was, for me, very much like any time I (used to) shop for something vintage or pre-owned. Of the few Z88s I found on various sites the prices had the usual crazy wide range with no rhyme or reason as to accessories or working order and I really can't say what any of those devices actually sold for. As always, something is worth what someone wants to pay.

Since my first post I found another device in my closet that I rescued at the same time. The nameplate says 'Timex Sinclair 2068' and it is the device only. Unlike the Z88, which I powered up with batteries and was functioning (as I remember it took hours after I put the batteries in for the Z88 to actually fire up as shown in the pictures), I have no idea if the 2068 works. The other 5 devices worked, so fair gamble this one might as well. After reviewing various threads in this forum I did see a number of posts that advised sellers not to turn an old device on as some portion of the hardware might burn. That did not happen during the 2 or 3 hours I had theZ88 operating a few years back as I tried some basic functionality. I have not used the Z88 since then. BTW wouldn't it be great in terms of the environment and extending the life of devices if we went back to easily changed batteries (with the new 'wrinkle' of rechargeable.)

The 2068 is simply a bonus should anyone want to purchased the Z88.

Thanks again for your reply ,

Brian

.timex1.jpgtimex2.jpg
 
CloudinMyHead, It seems I misinterpretted the message that remains on the bottom of my screen: 'If you are seeing this, then you are a moderated user and you cannot send DMs (direct messages) and your posts are reviewed by the mods before they go live. Once you reach 10 posts, this will go away.' I will look for your DM and respond.

- Brian
 
No problem ... I was able to post a reply .. or I should say ...I hit the button, but I am not sure if it went thru ....
 
Hi Brian,

Just got back from business trip, sorry for the delay. Would you be interested in a trade for it? If not how much for it.

Bobby
 
You are moderated for the first 10 posts. You are not allowed to initiate DMs but you can respond to them whilst under moderation.

Look for the little envelope on the top right of the screen (that is where mine is located at least).

Nice collection of Sinclar machines...

Dave
 
Personally, what I object to is a seller who tries to get educated on what they have and how much to sell it for to maximize their own profit, all without investing any time to understand the community and the history of vintage computers.
(And I don't assume that my opinion is in the majority here) ... It's all about respecting the community.
Seaken
I think you'll find that most of us share your opinion Seaken, you hit the nail on the head :)
 
I think you'll find that most of us share your opinion Seaken, you hit the nail on the head :)

Still, it's difficult to blame people for operating within the rules, even if we don't like what they do.

Maybe the for-sale section needs a rule that all posts must include a price or a link to an auction or face deletion. I've seen a few vintage facebook forums that hold that rule. It seems to work well enough.
 
When I asked about purchasing the Cambridge Z88, below was the response I received. However, I wasn’t prepared to spend that kind of money. That’s just my perspective, though—you can make your own decision.
Cambridge Z88.jpg
 
Yeah, that's crazy expensive, and it really does highlight how easy it is for people to abuse the for-sale section by shifting from "For Sale" to "Looking for Offers"... Maybe we should have a "Looking for offers" section as well for dropins.

You can get good condition z88s for very little from the UK, They show up regularly if infrequently.

What annoys me most is what I perceive as the seller's dishonesty. The moment I see words like "Saved" the seller comes across as disingenous. I could forgive it if they posted something like, "I got this for nothing, and I'm looking to get as much as I can for this." because at least then they would be being honest about their intent. It's not illegal, or immoral, but it's absolutely someone looking to take advantage of another person, and comes off like a snake oils salesman.

If they use Ebay to determine the value, then I would encourage them to put it on Ebay at $1 starting bid and find out what it's really worth. This for sale section will no doubt be flooded by people like this in the future. Refusing to deal with them is in the best interests of all collectors.

There is value in junk collectors saving stuff. I absolutely agree with that. So just put the stuff on ebay and let the market decide it's value. Keep in mind there are also people who don't even own what they resell, but they find items on other sites (eg, Japanese, UK sites) and then advertise the same item at a much higher price than they think the item will go for locally, then if they sell the item, they go and buy the original, ship it and take a cut.

I even wondered if this might be a scam since the first and last pictures are clearly taken in different settings, but the scuffs on both appear the same, even if the dirt moves around. But the ridiculously high prices for z88s on Ebay looks a bit strange... Even if you offered $1, you would overpay so much for shipping that the item still effectively costs more than the market value.

For reference, z88s come up regularly and should cost around $200 including shipping from the UK to the US... I paid around AU$150 for mine last year, including shipping. There are a LOT of these still in the UK, since they are small enough to fit in bookshelves, attics, etc, and don't take up a large box of space. I have a couple of them. I stopped collecting them because I was too tempted every time they came up cheap.

2068's are rarer in my experience.

There's also the Amstrad version - well, similar in look and feel, but no connection outside of the Amstrad owning Sinclair after 1986.

These also regularly come in boxes, because the box was something most people stored them in, so when they find them, boxes are usually included. Memory cards are a little harder to find in the sale though.
 
Looking at the sold history of Z88 on UK eBay is pretty revealing. Sure, there may not be a great selection *right now*, but history will repeat. This is not one of those unobtainable items, nor is it difficult/costly to ship even over great distance.
 
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